This invention relates generally to reducing aerodynamic drag imposed on vehicles such as trucks, trailers, trains, etc., and more particularly concerns the provision of means to prevent, reduce, or delay separation of boundary layer air flow about such vehicles thereby enhancing fuel savings.
Many vehicles (trucks, trailers, trains) are constructed in a box like fashion with sharp 90.degree. corners. This is done both for ease in fabrication and to maximize the number of rectangular crates or other load shapes that can be carried. When such vehicles move, the sharp edges cause the air to separate at the corners and cause the box like body to have high aerodynamic drag, thus requiring more propulsive power. While rounding off such corners can reduce drag, this expedient is undesirable from two points of view; first it reduces the interior storage capacity (frequently by much more than the actual reduction in storage area because of the modular nature of the crates or payload); and secondly, it is often not convenient or possible to modify existing vehicles this way, since much of the structure is in edge framing. Thus, there is a clear need for means which will achieve the effect of a rounded corner without requiring extensive body rework and without reducing interior capacity.